It was supposed to be a $10 billion idea, one that would help wean the world off its opioid dependence and give the drug industry a bounty of lucrative new products.
But the bottom fell out for a new class of pain medicines, called NGF inhibitors, when patients in clinical trials starting inexplicably blowing out their joints. The Food and Drug Administration put a halt to further studies in 2010, and a bunch of once-transformational drugs suddenly looked like costly scientific mistakes.
Now, after years of research and perseverance, a handful of biopharma companies believe they’ve found a safe way to relieve pain with NGF treatments, pressing through late-stage trials that will determine whether the old drugs can finally pass FDA muster and provide a much-needed alternative to opioids.
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